Bhubaneswar to host the 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention 2025

Bhubaneshwar the capital city of Odisha will host the 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention from 8-10 January 2025. It is the first time that Bhubaneswar is hosting the biannual Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention. 

As part of the Bharatiya Divas Convention, the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Bhubaneshwar on 8 January 2025.

In India, the 9th of January is observed as the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas since 2003  to mark the contribution of the Pravasi Bhartiya (Overseas Indian) community to the development of India.

The 17 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conventions were held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 8 – 10 January 2023. 

Organisers of the 18th  Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention 

• The Union Ministry of External Affairs is organising the 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention in association with the Odisha state government.
• The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Odisha government. 

Chief Guest of the 18th Pravasi/Youth Bharatiya Divas Convention 

• The Chief Guest of the 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention will be Christine Carla Kangaloo, President of Trinidad & Tobago. She will address the convention virtually on 9 January 2025.
• The Chief Guest of the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be Dr. Dev Pragad, CEO of the American magazine Newsweek.

Inauguration and Valedictory Session 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention

The 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9th January 2025. PM Modi will virtually flag off the first special tourist train for the Indian diaspora, Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a. The train will depart from Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi covering multiple destinations of tourist and religious importance.

President Droupadi Mumru will address the valedictory session of the 18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention on 10th January 2025.

President Murmu will also confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to  27 individuals.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award is given to Non-Resident Indians (NRI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO), or an organisation/institution established and run by the NRI/PIO in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.

Theme of the  18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention

The theme of the  18th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention is "Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat”.

About the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas /Convention

The Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is celebrated by the government of India every year on 9th January on the recommendation of Dr. L.M. Singhvi’s ‘High-Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora’. 

The day was chosen to mark the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India on 9 January 1915 to India onboard the ship S.S.Arabia in Mumbai (then Bombay).

The Ministry of External Affairs organises a three-day event known as Pravasi Bhartiya Convention to mark the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

The first Pravasi Bhartiya Divas/Convention was organised in 2003 in New Delhi from 9-11 January 2003.

It was organised annually but since 2015, it has been organised biannually.

List of the  Pravasi Bhartiya Convention